1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for starting an alcohol internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Internal combustion engines employing alcohol as fuel are difficult to start, because alcohol is hard to vaporize under low-temperature conditions due to its high boiling point as compared to that of gasoline and its high latent heat of vaporization causes the resulting alcohol/air mixture to be substantially cooled. A conventional method of starting an alcohol engine is to crack alcohol into more easily combustible hydrogen and carbon monoxide gases and to supply these gases in addition to alcohol to the engine at starting. However, precise flow control of gaseous fuel may be more difficult than that of liquid fuel.